A1 · Grammatikanurk
Ainsuse omastav
Genitive singular · Kelle? Mille?
1. Kelle? Mille? · Whose? Of what?
The genitive singular (ainsuse omastav) is one of the basic Estonian case forms. One of its main uses is to show possession or ownership. English often adds ’s: the man’s car, the child’s book.
Kelle? — whose? / belonging to whom? (people and animals)
Mille? — of what? / belonging to what? (things, places and ideas)
The possessor comes before the thing possessed: Kelle raamat? → Lapse raamat. — Whose book? → The child’s book.
Mille kaas? → Raamatu kaas. — The cover of what? → The book’s cover.
English often uses “of”: linna tänavad — the streets of the town; maja katus — the roof of the house.
Two genitives can stand together: poisi venna raamat — the boy’s brother’s book. Both poisi and venna are genitive; raamat is the thing possessed.
Minu = my, sinu = your, tema = his / her. See on tema maja. — This is his / her house.
2. Adjectives change too
When an adjective describes a noun in the genitive singular, both take the genitive form:
väike laps → väikese lapse raamat — the little child’s book.
väikese and lapse are genitive singular.
hea sõber → hea sõbra auto — a good friend’s car. The adjective hea looks the same in both forms.
3. Learn the genitive with each new word
The genitive singular ends in a vowel. For ordinary words ending in a consonant in the nominative, this is a, e, i or u. There is no single ending you can add to every word: learn the whole form.
| Nimetav | Omastav |
|---|---|
| raamat · book | raamatu |
| müts · hat | mütsi |
| laps · child | lapse |
| linn · town | linna |
| kott · bag | koti |
4. Some vowel-ending words stay the same
Isa loeb. — Father reads. (isa: nominative)
Isa raamat. — Father’s book. (isa: genitive)
The following words also have identical nominative and genitive singular forms:
| Nimetav | Omastav |
|---|---|
| isa | isa |
| ema | ema |
| tädi | tädi |
| onu | onu |
| õpetaja | õpetaja |
| töö | töö |
| vana | vana |
| hea | hea |
| maja | maja |
| auto | auto |
| valge | valge |
| Eesti | Eesti |
| Ameerika | Ameerika |
| Rootsi | Rootsi |
| Tartu | Tartu |
This is not true of every word ending in a vowel. Compare nimi → nime and tuba → toa below.
5. Common stem changes
Notice how the stem changes. Practise these useful pairs:
| Nimetav | Omastav |
|---|---|
| nimi | nime |
| meri | mere |
| veri | vere |
| tuba | toa |
| aed | aia |
| uus | uue |
| sõber | sõbra |
| õde | õe |
| vend | venna |
| laud | laua |
| vesi | vee |
| aken | akna |
6. Words ending in -ne
Many words ending in -ne change to -se in the genitive singular:
| Nimetav | Omastav |
|---|---|
| inimene · person | inimese |
| milline · what kind | millise |
| eestlane · Estonian | eestlase |
| ameeriklane · American | ameeriklase |
7. Why is the genitive so useful?
The genitive is the base for the regular ending-based forms of most other singular cases. Learn the partitive separately. Some cases also have short forms that need to be learned separately.
Add -s (in), -ga (with), -ta (without), or -d (nominative plural):
| Nimetav → omastav | -s | -ga | -ta | -d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| raamat → raamatu | raamatus · in the book | raamatuga · with the book | raamatuta · without the book | raamatud · books |
| müts → mütsi | mütsis · in the hat | mütsiga · with the hat | mütsita · without the hat | mütsid · hats |
Adjective + noun in the plural
Both words take the plural form. Use each word’s genitive singular stem and add -d.
| Singular | Genitive singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| vana raamat | vana raamatu | vanad raamatud · old books |
| sinine auto | sinise auto | sinised autod · blue cars |
| väike laps | väikese lapse | väikesed lapsed / väiksed lapsed · small children |
See on raamat. → Need on raamatud.
This is a book. → These are books.
Harjuta! · Practise
18 questions in three tasks: practise the genitive singular, make plural forms, then build other cases. Follow the example in each task and write the whole word.
Test your knowledge
Answer 12 questions in three clear sections: 4 genitive forms, 4 plural forms and 4 other-case forms. Your score and explanations appear after you submit. There is no timer.